Prophecy
by The ACS Dude
Summary: In the final moments of the Fourth Great Ninja War, the mysterious prophet Kira foresees that the fate of the world will soon be decided by a battle between Naruto and Sasuke. To end the war and save humanity, the prophet sends his disciples three years back in time to Konoha's past to try to change mankind's destiny.


Author's Notes: This is my second wild stab in the dark at a Naruto fanfic. It's intended to be what you might call plot-heavy, featuring a mixture of my original characters and the canonical ones. Please comment or review and let me know how I'm doing.

Chapter 1: The End

_"It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it."_  
_-Robert E. Lee_

The stench of death was in the air. It hung heavy on the wind like a morbid perfume, tinged with the scents of scorched earth, burning paper bombs, and spilled blood. This was the smell of battle. With the smell came the sounds as well: the grating of tempered steel, the shouts of battling jonin, the intermittent roar of potent jutsu. A sudden, powerful flash danced across the darkened horizon, followed by a loud blast that drowned out the sound of fighting, but only for a moment. The second the explosion died away, the noise returned, unabated. It was that odd time of day between sunset and true nightfall, with the sky all blood red but the horizon dark. The sun had already set, but the lights... the faraway flames, blasts, and occasional fire or lightning-style attack created bunches sparks in the distance. One or two even grew into bright, fleeting orbs, brilliant one moment and gone the next. With each flash, a few more lives slipped away forever.

"So this is the Fourth Great Ninja War," muttered Halen.

The breeze caught his dark hair, cropped level with ears, and swept it back behind his head. His piercing brown eyes, nearly black, stared unblinking towards the faraway battlefield. There were tens of thousands of soldiers that way but here, on these plains he stood alone. He towered above the emptiness around him at six and a half feet tall, nearly larger than life. He wore a sanguine red coat with bright silver detailings and fastenings over a black and silver tunic, a surreal contrast to the devastation that surrounded. After all, the battle had been here only one short day ago. The scars of combat were plainly visible. The ground was cratered and uneven, pockmarked and dotted with discarded ninja tools and stained here and there with the dried black blood of the fallen, their bodies freshly removed by their comrades. In the dying sun, the ground seemed the color of canvas, Halen a lone blemish of red on an empty scene.

"Not exactly," came a level voice from behind him. "This is the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War. The fate of the world will be decided within the next hour." The speaker had appeared suddenly, as if from nowhere, but Halen seemed unfazed.

Halen did not turn, but wrenched his gaze from the horizon and bowed his head briefly. "Lord Kira. You are early."

Though he could not see Kira behind him, Halen sensed that the Lord of the Council was watching the setting sun.

"It is too late in the day to be early for anything," said the other at some length. "The Council of Five must reach its decision shortly. So I am here." Kira's voice was reassuring and level, almost conversational, as if he were remarking on a passing cloud.

No sooner had Kira spoken than two men appeared, suddenly and without warning, absent one moment, present the next. They had apparently teleported mid-sentence, and seemed to be arguing.

"The scroll doubtless contains the means to absorb the Reaper Death Seal, thus allowing the user to release someone's soul - the Third Hokage's, say," Boltfoot Arcus was saying. "I can't imagine why else he would need a scroll-"

Shin scoffed. "If Orochimaru possessed something like that in life, he would have used it. I'm sure it contains some jutsu that allows an infiltration of the Leaf Village, perhaps a time-space teleportation ninjutsu that allows one to bypass a barrier." Stoneskin Shin, the shorter of the two men, had jet black hair and wore a matching jet black cloak with silver patterning. He stood at about five and a half feet tall, short even compared to Arcus' paltry five-foot, eleven inch height. Arcus, the Boltfoot, wore a light brown cloak that made him look like an ordinary traveler.

While they argued, Shin seemed to catch sight of Halen and cracked a malicious grin as he did so. "Firefist Halen, in the flesh. The situation must be dire indeed. We were just speculating on the contents of a scroll that's fallen in the Taka's hands from one of Orochimaru's stashes. Any guesses as to what it might be?"

"None of that matters anymore," Halen replied, shaking his head. "Lord Kira says that the fate of the world will be decided in the next hour."

Arcus waived down a snide reply from Shin. "Then we really are in the final hour," said the Boltfoot gravely. "We have to reach a decision quickly. Of course, we're missing a member. Is-"

"Not coming," remarked Kira from somewhere behind him.

Shin shot a quizzical look back at the Lord of the Council. "We're the Council of Five. How can we reach a decision with only four?"

"I have already reached a decision," replied Kira in a sort of sidelong manner, as if he were hardly paying attention. All three retainers gave him shocked glances, but he paid them little heed. "I had never intended to act in the course of this crisis... this Fourth Great Ninja War. But here we are, at the end of all things... and yet it is not clear how we should intervene in this war, if at all. So I will wait for more information."

"Lord Kira," sputtered Arcus in protest. "If this really is the last hour, then we have no time to waste waiting for more information."

"I will give you all the time you need," said Kira quietly. "I have decided to send all three of you back in time."

For the second time in as many minutes, all three of other councilors fell silent. Arcus' eyes widened with shock, Shin gaped, and even Halen gave Kira a searching look.

"A little more than three years into the past," said Kira, continuing on as if nothing had happened. "That's all I'll give you. I'll send you back to the time and place where this all started. Konoha, the Leaf Village. The fate of the world now rests in the hands of a few key individuals. Most can be found there. I want you to determine where exactly it all went wrong... how we got to this point... and what we can do to fix it. I wish to influence the world... to change it... as little as possible. To save the world now, I would have to take extremely drastic action. The right words at the right time to one person in the past might obviate the need. I want you to find the point in the past, the critical point, where you can save the world with this tiny amount of effort. I sense this time and place lies in Konoha."

There was dead silence amongst the councilors for several minutes as they processed this new declaration.

"We will have to infiltrate the Leaf Village," said Arcus hesitantly and at length. "The council does not usually deal in heroism or espionage. I'm not sure we have anyone suited-"

"Halen will perform that duty."

If he looked shocked before, Arcus the Boltfoot now appeared positively stunned. Shin broke out laughing.

"Halen?" Shin managed between bursts of riotous laughter. "The Firefist? A spy? He's not exactly known for his discretion, Kira."

"Lord Kira," corrected Arcus with a hiss.

Kira was gazing out towards the sunset, peppered with explosions, violence, and death. "Halen is the most suited to this task. He is my eyes. Of the three of you, he is the only one who possesses the Foresight Jutsu, which will allow him to perceive the critical moment I have ordered you to search for. He is more familiar than either of you with the key players in the Ninja War and Konoha itself. And of course, he possesses the necessary skills to disguise himself for long periods of time. Halen, do as I have asked. In less than one hour, the future of all mankind will decided by a battle between two people: Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki. Seek them out in the past and keep a close watch over both. I will provide you with a plausible story and background to allow you infiltrate the village. Change this dismal future. Shin, Arcus, you must track the Akatsuki, particularly the Masked Man."

Halen had sunk onto one knee. "I go by your will, Lord Kira." Shin and Arcus each muttered something to the same effect.

"I'll stay here," said Kira. "But I will be in touch. Good luck." He didn't move his hands an inch, but circles of blue light appeared around each of the three other men.

"Temporal Regression Jutsu," Kira murmured.

And then there was a flash of blue light that overpowered the dying sun.

* * *

"Excuse me, could you help me? I'm a little lost. I'm looking for the Leaf Village Ninja Academy. Do you know where I could find it?"

Izumo looked up from his post at Konoha's main gate, startled. He must have dozed off. He hadn't even sensed anyone approached, and yet here was a young boy, perhaps twelve or thirteen, standing just before him. Izumo was sure he'd never seen the boy before - he was quite tall for his age, a bit over five feet - and wore a black and dark brown vest and trousers with silver patternings. His right hand was wrapped in white bandages, probably indicating that the boy practiced taijutsu.

"Oh, the Academy, sure," said Izumo after the initial confusion wore off. "It's the large building down the way. Walk down that way five blocks and take a left and there's a sign that should point you to it. What did you want with the Academy? You look a little old to be starting school."

"Sorry, I should have explained," said the youth, "I've trained at the Land of Fire's Sho Mountain Monastery my whole life. I know all the basic jutsu, and I decided I wanted to become a shinobi, so the master arranged with the Third Hokage to have me take the exam to become a genin."

"That's right," said Izumo with a bit of a grin. "We're getting around to that time of year again. Academy graduation exams. Well, good luck to you. Maybe you'll have a headband like this the next time I see you. By the way, what did you say your name was?"

"My name? It's Halen." And with that, the youth thanked the gate guard and disappeared down the road.

As Izumo watched the boy's retreating form, he frowned.

"Hey, Kotetsu," he asked, rousing his partner from his bored stupor.

"Yeah?"

"Did you remember seeing that kid just now approach?"

Kotetsu briefly lifted his cheek from his palm and frowned. "Now that you mention it, I don't think I did."

"I didn't either. What do you think-" At that moment, Izumo saw something that his thoughts mid-sentence. "Hey, look at the stone faces of the Hokage!"

Kotetsu whipped around to see the faces of the four great Kage, carved into the side of the mountain, covered completely in graffiti. Not far away, a blonde-haired kid in orange was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, laughing and haphazardly swinging half-empty paint cans.

"NARUTO!" yelled both guards at once, and the memory of their encounter with Halen disappeared to the backs of their minds.

Unseen in a nearby tree, Shin the Stoneskin cackled gleefully. "So that's what Halen looks like as a child? That's hilarious. I've never seen this jutsu before."

Arcus shot Shin a very severe look from the branch just above him. "If you keep making fun of him, .I'll send you in after him."

Shin quieted immediately. "Right. Sorry Captain. By the way, I was meaning to ask you - Kira said something about Halen's Foresight Jutsu."

"Lord Kira," corrected Arcus again, with a hiss. "And yes, what about it?"

"Well, he said he chose Halen because he could anticipate the future with his Foresight Jutsu and would be able to perceive the moment he could take a minimal action and save the world. In other words, Kira - er - Lord Kira is asking him to use his jutsu to predict the consequences of his actions three years from now."

"That's right."

"But Halen's not like Lord Kira. His Foresight Jutsu can't see the future."

"Yes and no," replied Arcus, shifting slightly on the branch he was sitting on. "No jutsu allows a perfect vision of the future. Halen's jutsu allows him to clearly see one possible future for a specific person... and to know how likely that future is. This is Halen's power, and Lord Kira hopes that Halen can use it to build a better tomorrow. This... this is Halen's prophecy."


End file.
